The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs says Israeli forces shot the men “one by one” after ambulances were attacked close to the Egyptian border, and then buried them in a mass grave. The Israeli military say they fired on “terrorists” approaching them in “suspicious vehicles” that had no prior clearance, a claim now rescinded, according to the Times of Israel.

The ICC has investigated similar matters previously. Its predecessor, the International Criminal Tribunal, undertook two ad hoc inquiries — one in to war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and another in to genocide in Rwanda — under the auspices of the UN Security Council.

After its establishment as a permanent body — confusingly, also located in the Hague, where the separate International Court of Justice is based — it issued its first judgement in 2012, against Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for deploying child soldiers. He was sentenced to 14 years. Other indictments, often against African leaders, have been brought, some successfully.

But it is in promoting charges against prominent international heads of state that the ICC has entered dangerous territory for future support. In March 2023, it issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over child abductions during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Then, in May last year, its Edinburgh-born chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, requested arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Al Qassem Brigades, Mohammed Deif, and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, in connection to war crimes. 

Warrants for Haniyeh and Sinwar were withdrawn after Israeli forces killed them.

ICC states should arrest Mr Netanyahu if he visits their territory, and Hungary’s refusal to do so — preferring to roll out the red carpet last week — has led to its withdrawal, the first by a member of the EU. Prime minister Viktor Orban confirmed that “Hungary has always been half-hearted” in its membership and said that the ICC was “no longer an impartial court, not a court of law, but a political court”.

This is a problem for both the world and Ireland, which has increased its overall funding. In addition, our EU commissioner, Michael McGrath, is responsible for the rule of law throughout the bloc and has rattled the sabre about continuing to withhold some €18bn funding that should be made available to a country of 10m people. Mr McGrath said: 

We need countries to support the system of international justice, and the ICC is at the heart of that. 

But it is becoming more difficult to sustain that view when so many powerful nations eschew it. The US, like Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, and Egypt, has never been a member. In February, Donald Trump sanctioned the court for its investigations in to Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and banned Karim Khan from entering the US. China and Russia do not recognise its jurisdiction. Neither does India, nor Israel.

Now we are witnessing the first fissures in the EU, which call back to mind the dismissive views of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, when he was asked about the influence of another international institution dedicated to peace and justice, the League of Nations, 90 years ago.

“The league”, he said, “is very well when the sparrows shout, but no good at all when eagles fall out.”

Paradiso restaurant's achievement

You would need to look at the New Testament to find the origin of the phrase that “a prophet is without honour in their own country”. Then hastily put it away when you consider the case of the food revolution encouraged in successive generations by Dennis Cotter and his Paradiso restaurant in Cork.

Mr Cotter has run Paradiso, one of the world’s most renowned vegetarian restaurants, for 32 years and seen Ireland develop from a nation where a plant-based diet might be considered an eccentricity to something which is relished by hundreds of thousands.

Mr Cotter, who opened his business in 1993 with his then partner Bridget Healy, has decided it’s time to hang up the proverbial toque at the age of 66 and pass the enterprise to a chosen successor.

In a country which three decades ago was best known for meat, dairy, and fish, his groundbreaking idea was to champion vegetables and forge relationships with hyper-local, chemical-free, seasonal suppliers. It was a strategy far ahead of its time.

Thanks to him and his colleagues, many people have broadened their tastes. And that’s a job well done even for a demanding taskmaster. 

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Irish Tourism statistics 

Numbers can be a little like poems. If you don’t like the ones you have, there are always others.

Thus concerns about what is happening in our tourism industry are becoming an argument over the figures, with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) vigorously defending its numbers against suggestions that they are “at odds” with the experience of others.

In February, the CSO suggested that just 304,000 overseas visitors made a trip to Ireland. 

This was 30% down from the 433,300 that came in February 2024. This is challenged by the Restaurants’ Association of Ireland, while Tourism Ireland says its data shows a rise in hotel occupancy. The CSO says it is “confident” about the trends it has identified.

The stats have become controversial in the context of bedroom availability and the row over the Dublin Airport cap. But we won’t have long to wait for further evidence. The March returns, which will include St Patrick’s Day, should be available by the end of this month.